Avid gamer, 28, whose diet consisted of fried chicken and ice cream bars loses 13 stone in a year with no cardio

A man who played video games 14 hours a day and ate a diet mainly consisting of fried chicken and Snickers ice cream bars, has lost 83kg (13 stone 1lb), nearly half his original body weight, in just over a year, with no cardio, and now wants to motivate others to change their lives.

Youssef Jakane, 28, who works in artificial intelligence (AI) and lives in north London, said he had been “obese” since childhood.

At his heaviest, Youssef, who is 5ft 10in tall, said he weighed 178kg (28 stone) in 2019, but at that point he was “addicted” to video games and did not “care enough to change it”.

He believes his weight may have increased even more, but since he did not weigh himself again and avoided looking at himself in “shop windows and mirrors”, he remained unaware.

Given his MS symptoms had worsened over the years, which he believes was related to his weight gain, the option for an assessment was offered to him as he was unable to work.

He told PA Real Life: “At that point I knew I had two options, either I am a disabled person forever or I do something, so I thought ‘Let’s just do something and see what happens’.”

The very next day he went to a local gym and just over a year later, by December 2022, he had reached his goal weight of 95kg (14 stone 10lbs).

Youssef explained that he did not achieve his weight loss with cardio, but rather by lifting weights, altering his diet to keto, and doing intermittent water fasting and meditation.

“There’s this quote that I love, ‘Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of making a change’ and that’s just 100% true.”

He added: “If you go to the gym, do exercise you actually like. Don’t do things because you saw a trainer on YouTube tell you to do it.”

Youssef said he had been overweight for as long as he can remember, and while it “bothered” him, he said he “just didn’t care enough to change it”.

“I didn’t like that people made comments, but I would forget 30 minutes later and just enjoy chicken and chips,” he said.

“I was addicted to video games as well, so I didn’t even care. I got all the satisfaction I wanted in terms of competence levels from video games.”

Youssef said he would spend 14 hours a day playing video games such as Teamfight Tactics, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft.

Youssef said he could not walk up the stairs without feeling tired and his weight affected his self-confidence, but he “hated” the summer months the most.

“You’re showering three times a day, it’s really not pleasant, and since I’m Muslim, you don’t expose your body,” he explained.

“Plus, people treated me very differently then. When you’re overweight, people just automatically look at you and think, ‘lazy, stupid, unemployable’ – all these things.”

He regained the weight and reached his heaviest of 178kg (28 stone) in 2019 – the same year he was diagnosed with MS.

The symptoms of his MS included balance problems, vision loss, bladder issues and incontinence, and he believes they were exacerbated by being overweight.

Even though he thought “wow, that’s a big number” when he saw the 178kg figure, he said he stepped off the scales, went back to playing video games, and did not weigh himself again.

“I just thought, either I’m going to be a disabled person who’s OK video games and die early, or try something else,” Youssef said.

“I realised if I want to do this properly, I just need to do whatever I find fun.”

He knew that only doing cardio is where he went wrong in 2013, and he decided to focus on strength training and lifting weights at the gym.

His weight loss gradually increased as he continued to lift heavier weights, but he then decided to incorporate a keto diet – a low-carb, high-fat diet – into his life, along with occasional water fasting, only consuming water or coffee for 72 hours at a time.

One of his keto meals included scallops, cucumber, cheese, onions and olives, and another of cauliflower rice, scrambled egg, sausages, cheese and sauerkraut.

By June 2022, Youssef weighed 158kg (24 stone 9lbs), three months later he weighed 122kg (19 stone 2lbs), and by Christmas that year he reached his goal weight of 95kg (14 stone 10lbs).

Youssef said: “Right now I can go up the stairs with no issues, and I know that if I was in a position where I couldn’t do that, I would miss it so much.

While Youssef has loose skin as a result of his weight loss, he said he feels and looks “completely different”, he no longer takes medication for his MS, and he continues to go to the gym regularly as he wants to gain more muscle and potentially try other forms of exercise, such as calisthenics.

Youssef appreciates that his diet and fitness regime might not work for others, but he believes finding “fun” ways to exercise is the best way to lose weight gradually and sustainably.

“Just do things you enjoy. Even if you only like training chest, for example, just come and do that and go home,” Youssef said.

“That is better than coming and using the treadmill twice and then having your gym membership running for months.”